Machine for marking cylindrical articles



March 114, 31950 c. F. RQBBINS MACHINE FOR MARKING GYLINDRICAL ARTICLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 19, 1944 INVENTOR.

BY I

WWW

ATTORNEYS March 114, 11.950 7 c. F. ROBBINS 2959599371 MACHINE FOR MARKING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Filed Dec. 19, 1944' s Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 14-, 195% UNITE S ATENT REACH-ZINE FGB MARKING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES Application December 19, 1944, Serial No. 568,879

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for making a printed impression on cylindrical articles such as small bottles, vials, medical ampules, etc., which may vary slightly in size one from another or may vary in concentricity or in some other way which departs from a true cylinder.

In my co-pending application Ser. No. 563,329, filed November 14, 1944, now Patent Number 2,459,538, issued January 18, I have illustrated a machine for printing on cylindrical articles of this type which comprises a holder for the article having a through opening of a size to freely receive the article, a printing wheel beneath the holder on which the article occupying said opening rests, and means to rotate the wheel while the article rests thereon, the frictional engagement of the article with the periphery of the wheel rotating said article while in the opening, during which rotation the printed impression is made on the art cle. Because the article is freely received in the opening while the printed impression is being made, said article is free to have any bodily movement necessary to maintain a proper printing contact between the article and the wheel so that an even printed impression will be produced even though the article departs in some particular from a true cylinder.

The speed of operation of the machine illustrated in the above application is limited by the facility with which the operator can place an unprinted article in the holder and then remove the article from the holder after the printed impression has been made.

It is one of the objects or the present invention to provide a machine or" this type by which the speed of operation and output can be greatly increased.

This end is accomplished by providing a plurality of connected article holders, preferably in the form of a turret, and then rotating the turret so as to carry each article holder from a receiving station to a printing station, and also providing means for delivering an article to each holder as it reaches the receiving station and then making the printed impression on the article when it arrives at the printing station.

If desired the machine may also be provided with a discharge station to which each article will be carried by its holder after it has received its printed impression, and at which station the printed article is automatically discharged from its holder.

Other objects of the invention are to provide various improvements in machines of this type as will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a Vertical sectional view through a machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is .a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a side view.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating the means for rotating the turret.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5--5, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 5-l5, Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a section on the line ll, Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 illustrates a small cylindrical article which is adapted to receive its imprint by the machine herein illustrated.

In the drawings i indicates an article-holding member in the form or a turret which is shown as supported on and rotated by a supporting shaft 2 that is mounted in a suitable frame 5. The turret member 1 is provided with a plurality of through Openings 4, each of a size to receive a cylindrical article such as 5 in Fig. 8 on which the imprint is to be made, and to permit the article to freely rotate about its own axis while in said opening.

The means for rotating the turret will be presently described. During the rotation of the turret which may be in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 2, each opening or pocket d is carried to a filling station where it receives an article 5 to be printed and then is carried to a printing station at which the printed impression is made on the article. The continued rotation of the turret then carries each printed article to the discharge station where said article is discharged from the turret.

In Fig. 2 the receiving station is indicated at h, the printing station at c, and the discharge station at d.

Any suitable means may be employed for feeding the unprinted articles to the successive pockets or openings 5 as each pocket or opening reaches the receiving station 22. One simple means is a hopper 6 into which a plurality of articles 5 can be placed, the delivery end i of the hopper being located directly above each opening d as it arrives at the receiving station. With this arrangement the bottom article 5 in the hopper will gravitate into each opening d when it comes into register with the bottom 1 of the hopper. Situated directly beneath the turret is a stationary supporting platform it on which each article 5 rests as it is deposited into an opening t at the receiving station. platform extends to the printing station 0 and thus serves to retain the articles in the pockets or openings 4 whil traveling from the receiving station to the printing station.

The printing on each article 5 is done by a printing wheel 8 which is located at the printing station directly underneath the turret, said printing wheel being mounted on a shaft 9 which extends radially of the turret, and therefore, substantially parallel to the axis of the article in the opening 4 which is at the printing station. Said printing wheel may be constructed similar to that illustrated in my above-mentioned copending application Ser. No. 563,329 in that it is provided with two peripheral hands it of rubber on which the end portions of the article rest end is also provided with a type member if of rubber carrying the appropriate type characters to make the desired printed impression.

Whenever an unprinted cylindrical article 5 has been brought to the printin station by the rotation of the turret, said article will then be resting on th rubber bands it! of the printing wheel. The rotation of the printing wheel will by its frictional engagement with the article cause the latter to rotate at the same surface speed as that of the printing wheel and during such rotation the printing plate M will make the desired printed impression on the article. During the time that the article is being rotated in its opening 4 by its engagement with the printing wheel, said article is free to an vertical movement necessary to maintain an even contact between the peripheral surface of the article and the printing wheel notwithstanding that there may be some variation in the concentricity of the article or variation in diametrical dimension from one end to the other, or variation in diameter of one article from another. An even uniform imprint will thus be made on each article regardless of any departure I which its peripheral surface may have from a true cylinder.

In order to obtain a proper printing pressure between the article and the printing wheel, I propose to employ a holddown element Which is arranged to bear against the article while the printed impression is being made thereon and to press the article with th desired pressure against the printing wheel. This hold-down is shown as a roll 38 mounted in a supporting bracket 35 which is secured to the frame 3. The hold-down roll 38 may conveniently be yieldingly mounted in the bracket 3i so that it will apply a yielding pressure to each article 5 as said article is brought into printing position, such yielding pressure being supplied by the spring 32.

After each article has received its printed impression, it is carried by the turret to th discharge station cl and during its traveling movement from the printing station to the discharge station, said article is supported upon the section 55 of the supporting platform. This section I5 terminates at the discharge station (2 so that when during the rotation of the turret a printed article is carried off from the end of the platform '1 section 15, said article will gravitate out of its opening 3 and thereby b discharged from the turret. If desired, a chute Hi may be provided to receive the articles as they are discharged from the turret and conve them to any suitable receptacle.

The means for driving the turret is preferably such as to give the latter an intermittent turning motion with a period of rest when each pocket or opening 4 is at either thereceiving station, the printing station, or the discharge station. One means for accomplishing this would be by th use of the well-known Geneva motion such. as shown in Fig. 4. This comprises the gear member l'lf on the shaft 2 and the co-operating member 18 on a driving shaft 19, the member 58 having the tooth 20 which at each rotation enters one of the recesses 2| in the gear member H and turns said gear member one step forward, such turning movement occurring while the member 18 is rotating through a relatively small angle. The engagement of the peripheral surface 22 of the tooth member 8 with the end of each section of the member It serves to lock the member i! from rotation except when the tooth 20 is in engagement with one of the recesses 2!.

The shaft [9 may be driven by any suitable means. As herein shown there is provided a power shaft 23 which is journaled in the frame 3 and which is connected by bevel gears 24, 25 with the shaft 19. In the construction shown in Fig. 4 the Geneva motion is so designed that the shaft 2 and the turret I will be given a ninety degree turning movement at each forward step but the extent of the turning movement can be varied by proper design of the Geneva motion, it only being necessary that the turning motion should be such that during each period of rest of the turret, one of the openings 4 registers with the hopper and another opening with the printing wheel. The printing wheel is continuously driven from the power shaft 23 by means of a driving belt 26 passing over pulleys 21 and 28 on the shaft 9 and the power shaft 23 respectively, and the means for rotating the printing wheel is so constructed that said wheel will make one revolution for each forward step of the turret, and the printing plate II on the printing wheel is so located that it comes into contact with the article 5 while the turret is at rest, so that the article is stationary, except for its rotation about its own axis during the printing operation.

Any suitable means may be employed for inking the printing plate, and I have shown for this purpose an inking device comprising an ink reservoir supported on a stud 37 extending from the frame 3 and carrying an inking wheel 35 which applies ink to the printing plate at each rotation of the printing wheel.

The openings 4 will preferably be so formed that the end portions 29 thereof fit the end portions of the article 5, each opening being widened slightly between the end portions so that only the end portions of the article will have any contact with the sides of the opening 4. This construction holds the article in proper position with its axis substantially parallel to that of the printing wheel during the printing operation but avoids any possibility that the printed impression will become smudged or blurred by contact with the sides of the holder.

With the above machine it is only necessary for the operator to see that articles 5 to be printed are delivered in sufficient quantity to the hopper 6 since the operation of loading the various openings or pockets 4 and making the imprint on the article and then discharging the printed articles from the openings is entirely automatic and requires no attention on the part of the operator.

The turret l with its openings 4 may be considered as a plurality of connected article holders, each of which is provided with an opening of a size to freely receive the cylindrical article to be printed and to allow said article while in said opening to freely rotate about its own axis, which connected article holders are movable to carry the opening in each holder from a receiving station to a printing station and thence to a discharge station, and while I have herein shown such connected article holders as in the form of a turret, yet they might assume some other form without departing from the invention.

When any cylindrical article is in its pocket or opening 4, it is confined'only by the walls of the opening and is free not only to rotate about its own axis but is free to move'up and down in the opening as it rotates. It is this freedom of movement of the article while the printed impression is being made thereon which results in a printed impression that is of uniform shade regardless of any variation in the contour of the article from that of a true cylinder.

I claim:

1. A machine for marking cylindrical articles comprising a turret element rotatable about a vertical axis and provided with a plurality of elongated through openings, each opening having its longer dimension extending radially of the turret element and adapted to receive freely a cylindrical article to be printed with its axis extending horizontally and radially of said turret element, means to rotate the turret with a step-by-step motion to carry each opening from a receiving station to a printing station and thence to a discharge station with a period of rest at each station, means to deliver an unprinted cylindrical article to each opening at the receiving station with the axis of said article extending horizontally and radially of said turret element, a supporting platform beneath the turret on which each article rests as it is delivered to an opening and over which it rolls while traveling between stations in one of the openings, a printing wheel rotatable about a horizontal axis extending at right angles to the axis of the, turret element and situated underneath the turret at the printing station, said supporting platform having an opening in which the printing wheel operates whereby when each article is brought into the printing position it rests freely on and in rollable contact with the printing wheel during its period of rest at said station, means to press each article yieldingly against the printing wheel during such period of rest, means to rotate the printing wheel whereby the frictional engagement of each article with the printing wheel while said article is at rest at the printing station will rotate the article about its own axis in its opening of the turret, thereby producing a printed impression on the article, and a discharge chute at the discharge station, said supporting platform terminating at the discharge station so that printed articles arriving at said station are free to gravitate from the opening in the turret into the discharge chute.

2. A machine for marking cylindrical articles comprising a turret element in the form of a horizontal plate rotatable about a vertical axis and provided with a plurality of rectangular openings extending vertically therethrough, each opening having opposed straight sides extending radially of the turret element and each adapted to receive freely between its sides a cylindrical article to be printed in a position with its axis extending horizontally and radially with respect to said turret element, means to give the v turret an intermittent rotative movement by which each opening is moved from a receiving station to a printing station and thence to a discharge station with a period of rest at each station, means to deliver an unprinted cylindrical article to each opening at the receiving station during its period of rest thereat, a supporting platform beneath the turret on which each article rests as it is delivered to an opening and over which it has rolling contact while held in the opening and while traveling between the stations, said platform having an opening at the printing station, a rotatable printing wheel situated underneath the turret at the printing station and having its periphery operating in the opening of the supporting platform, said printing wheel being rotatable about a horizontal axis substantially parallel to that of the article occupying the opening at said printing station, means applying a yielding pressure against an article in said opening at the printing station thereby to yieldingly press said article against the printing wheel, and means to rotate the printing wheel about its axis while said article is resting thereon, the frictional contact between the printing wheel and said article causing the article to rotate about its axis while at the printing station with the result that a printed impression will be made thereon.

CHARLES F. ROBBINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 524,610 Richards Aug. 14, 1894 747,990 Liberman Dec. 29, 1903 970,839 Lange Sept. 20, 1910 1,671,982 Elliot June 5, 1928 1,892,545 Ward Dec. 27, 1932 2,079,300 Nunnikhoven May 4, 1937 2,171,742 Dombre Sept. 5, 1939 

